6/19
Fred Lebrun, sports writer for the Albany newspaper joined me today to do an article on Monomoy flats fishing. The day stated with lil sun and blind casting into a ripping river. Biggest Striper was 30 inches on a 4-inch sand lance. Sun graciously appeared so we sight fished to an assortment of good fussy fish. Time to change to fussy fish flies and leaders I guess. Some ate well while others laughed at us as they swam away a lil more educated. We will see who laughs last!

6/20
Due to wind we started blind casting into a good running river off Monomoy and Bill hit 2-30 inchers on a 300 grain with a white, olive 4 inch clouser, 9 foot tapered to 16 fluorocarbon leader.
What would this day have in store for us? Sunshine, and lots of it. You could see 100 feet or more on the flat. Steady flow of small, medium and a few 20 lb.'s cruising past looking for their next meal. The residents have arrived. Picked up a couple while getting a shot at 50 or so. Bill had never landed a keeper nor sight fished. Today was one of those days not soon to be forgotten.

6/21
15-25 knot winds were our company today. No problem, mon. Just put it at your back, jab the sky with your stick on your forward and let mother nature do the rest for you. Never let the wind keep you on the couch. Taught Kim how to cast a fly rod today. After a couple hours of instruction it sort of came together. It made me giggle when she landed 3 fish with her biggest being 28 inches. Her husband landed 7-8, but none were as big as hers. I'm sure it will be a long drive home for him!

6/22
Took 2 Fresh water, first time saltwater anglers out today. On the walk out they noticed small crabs, sand lances, shrimp and a 4-inch squid. First lesson of matching the hatch was a success. They let mother nature tell them what to throw. Joe hit a 30 incher on a small squid with additional fish eating it eagerly. Joe's fish ran 100 feet into the backing. Michele's first striper EVER ran 100 feet into backing- 100 feet more- plus an extra 50 before the hook pulled loose! Had to be one of those 20+ lb'rs I've been seeing on the flats. Top fly has still been a 4-inch sand lance. Did not see a single other angler on the island today, a single fish busting or a single bird working over fish? Had to work for all catches today.

6/23
Seeing TONS of shrimp. Good #'s of squid. Blues are making their presence known with several lost flies daily. Today I found the fishing slow. Several other Capt.'s concurred. Several differences between yesterday and today could be why. Blues, seals? Today what we did was called fishing. Usually its called catching. Ha Big fish of the day was Rick's 33 incher. Ye-ha!

6/24
A day for Kings? Flats, sun, lil wind made sight fishing the order of the day. Tom and I went to one of my favorite spots on the drop looking West in the A.M. for Stripers on a transitional - eating stage. Water was ripin out of a small creek channel, where they feed on all the bait that gets funneled through it. And feed they did but unfortunately for them it was not what they had ordered. Are plates overflowed with numerous hook-ups while sight fishing. Today was unique, as I have not seen so many big fish, schools of sand lances (micro).
With all the micros and shrimp expect them to get even more fussy on the flats. The biggest disappointment today was seeing 100 fish in all sizes surround us and do nothing. I had to wait for Tom to land his 28 incher before I could call out more for him! Ha. Most fish were hit on the A.M. drop. We saw fish all day but with out moving water, and having to compete with a million micro eels they were not easy to fool. Dropped in Pd. test of leader, threw 4 inch sand lances, micro eels and crabs with success. Approximately 300 fish sighted. On a beautiful Sat. with few to no boats, people around, now that's a keeper of a spot!

Having an intimate understanding of bait, flies, structure, tides, currents, migratory, resident stripers, specialty lines, leaders, proper lb. test, size of hook, colors, presentation, retrieve, fish movement, weather and a whole lot more will increase your odds. Fishing each spot while at its optimum is key. It has taken me a vast amount of time to understand all, that this world class destination fishery has to offer at all stages of the tide. It's a hugh vast arena that changes by the hour so have fun, be safe and stop once in a while and admire its beauty!

Randy,
I observed a behavior among the bluefish I've never seen here in Chesapeake Bay, may you have some ideas. On one flat in about 4' of glass flat water there were literally acres of blues just finning on the surface. They were not feeding, at times they were daisy chaining like tarpon, mostly they were just barely
moving with their fins and tails sticking up out of the water. We managed to aggravate a couple fish into striking flies, but mostly any fly that came near these fish caused them to spook. Have you experienced this behavior and had any success with enticing strikes?

Hi Guy,

Good question!
Yup, sometimes you will see the blues doing that. They maybe resting. Mark Sadotti is coming out with a big article on that subject soon. No one knows for sure, is what I'm told by Peter at Fishing the Cape.
Some think they are in post spawn, just chillin out. Seeking shallower, warmer water. Were would you go if you just had kids? I agree.
If you throw a big popper at them it tends to spook them. Peter finds that if you throw a small gurggler at them and make 3 small gurgles and leave still, that tends to work the best. Thanks, Pete!

Sight fishing the outer beaches has been overall productive. Friends landed 5 keepers on fly while looking for them yesterday. They were not spooky and eager to eat!

We should all try to remember that we are stewards of our environment. If it were not for conservative minded people 20 years ago, we would not be enjoying the fruits of there labor today. Please remember that a fish is to valuable a resource to only be caught once. (Lee Wulff)

Ill see you all on June 30. Save me a spot? I lost my map does anyone have one?